Blonde Spikes and Gadgets
by Z.A.G
Summary: Fighting an oppressive power company is hard. Battling emotions at the same time is harder but when Cloud enters the picture AVALANCHE finally gains some ground and emotions begin to get messy in the group. How does one get any work done when there are so many distractions? Jessie has no idea but at least she has something more interesting to look at then a computer screen.
1. Prologue

A/N: Whelp, I haven't written in a long while, so I'm quite rusty. Decided to start by writing this as I work on getting back into the groove of things.

 _Summary: AVALANCHE finds the extra leg it needs to take down ShinRa Inc. when Cloud is brought to them. A story about a small resistance group fighting against the power of oppression and the relationships that forms in their small family._

 _Prologue: A Cloud of Thoughts_

Normally things are quiet around here. We do a lot of planning, strategizing, theorizing, but when you get right down to it, we never really accomplish much. Not that we expect to get things done quickly as that would just be a surefire way of getting ourselves killed. We want to go up against ShinRa Inc. An entire nation had failed to stand up against them in a war and we're just a small resistance group: AVALANCHE. We have to play our cards right.

Barret is a good leader – not great. He doesn't immediately jump the gun and run in guns blazing. As a man who seems to be mostly brawl over brains, he's smart enough to know that we need a solid plan on an attack against ShinRa. Problem with Barret is that he isn't a strategist nor is he a critical thinker. He has ideas but doesn't know the best course of action to take; especially with a ragtag team such as us.

Biggs I've known the longest. We grew up in the same sector. We weren't friends back then but I was a friend with his younger sister. Biggs was here to make sure his sister didn't have to be – so that the people and her would have a better future that didn't involve the oppressive thumb of ShinRa. What he lacks in physical strength he makes up for in espionage. He isn't a Turk by any stretch of the imagination but he can give a classic undercover spy a run for their money. We have quite a number of disguises he has created over time. He also has connections inside the company that have proven vital when we need information.

Wedge is Biggs' tagalong. They were best friends growing up and the two were always inseparable. Biggs likes to claim that he's Wedge's lifelong wingman and is there to help the portly man with courage in hopes of finding that lucky lady. I always find it amusing to hear this because I've never even seen Biggs successfully 'woo' a lady much less have a relationship with one. He tried catching my attention once and I ended up smacking him. He is as charming as an obnoxious brother you love to hate. Wedge doesn't mind though. The man is a coward at heart but he's probably the gentlest soul I've ever come to known. He isn't great at anything really and doesn't add much to our group outside of being an extra hand.

Tifa Lockhart came to the group a few months ago after bumping into Barret. Apparently the two had bonded over their mutual sufferings over ShinRa. I don't know the exact details of their meeting but it has something to do with Barret running in to help what he thought was a damsel in distress from a bunch of thugs. but by the time he managed to bellow out an order for them to leave her alone, Tifa had already laid the three men out on their asses. She's an excellent martial artist – I've never seen anyone fight better than her, and I've since been getting some lessons from her. I'm still sore from our last lesson and it was two days ago. The only thing that's harder than her punches are the drinks she makes. She's since become the bartender at our HQ the Seventh Heaven. There isn't a lot of people who have the Gil to spend on drinks but every bit helps when you're living in the Slums.

Marlene is Barret's little girl. Not biological daughter but you wouldn't know that by the unconditional love and admiration he has for the little girl. She's barely passed five years old and picking up things from Tifa at the bar. I don't know if there was ever a kid before her that knows how to mix a Midgar Fire like she can. I'm not sure we are giving her the education that she should be having with our lot but Barret doesn't exactly have a whole lot of gil for her schooling. Tifa and I have taken to teaching her some things when the Gil is too dried up to get a teacher to hold a lesson. I focus on the math and sciences while Tifa takes care of the literature and history.

My skills are in engineering and hacking. It's great if you want to try and get information out of the ShinRa inc. database; however, doing that also takes the large risk of being traced and caught. The security system at the company is topnotch and we don't' exactly have the best equipment to work off of. Most of my skills have been spent on perfecting bomb making and keeping Barret's gun-arm in operation.

We're a small group and since we have nothing immediately in the works on how to stand up against ShinRa, it's generally quiet. There's a routine down where I'm locked away down below the bar tinkering around with machines or on my computer while Tifa is upstairs running the bar. Biggs and Wedge go do…actually I don't even know what they do. If they aren't in the bar drinking they're out of the sector doing something I'm not sure I want to know about. Barret is generally below with me. He looks over files on each sector of the city while his temple looks to continue to grow until his head might burst because, like I mentioned previously, he's not too great with the whole strategizing thing.

It's usually quiet.

Just when I think it's going to be another normal evening I start hearing Barret above.

"Wha' the hell, Tifa? Who the hell is this?"

And thus, having something different occur that breaks our routine, I find myself moving up to the second level while there's a quick commotion. The first thing my eyes catch sight of is Barret's intimidating form as he flails is arms wildly as he not so subtly tries to tell Tifa that whoever she brought can't stay.

He's dirty – more so than the normal person living in the slums. I heard there had been a rainstorm outside of the city yesterday and this guy looked like he had rolled around in the mud. Obviously we don't get rain in the slums with the plate above us blocking out the world. Upon closer inspection he also appeared to be covered in blood which lead me to believe he had been mugged; except…he was dragging the largest sword I've ever seen someone carry. He was being half carried by Tifa, with his other arm tossed over her shoulders. His eyes had a far off look and had a glow to them that would make most people in our group flee.

I felt the familiar chill when his eyes shifted and focused slightly in my direction. The unmistakable glow in his eyes representing his status as a member of SOLDIER. A military group we try our best to avoid.

"Barret, please" Tifa started as I found myself walking to the small group. Her gaze shifted toward the swordsman's face, eyes softening in a way that made me think she was familiar with him, "He's not well."

"Then he can go die in the streets. Look at him. Bastard looks like he's covered in shit and blood. Probably some psycho serial killer."

"His name is Cloud. He's a friend of mine. Barret, he's from my town."

Barret's jaw tightened and I could swear I heard his teeth grind as he starred at the sorry looking man. I studied his hair for a moment. I think he's blonde but it was hard to tell with how much filth he was covered in. I licked my lips in anticipation before I finally spoke up. "He's SOLDIER."

"What?!" And thus Barret started to rave once more.

Our resident bartender nodded her head, "He…left my hometown when we were kids to join SOLDIER. I haven't seen him since."

"He's ShinRa!?" He was already arming his gun-arm.

" _Was_ , Barret. He was in ShinRa. He's not anymore."

"Once ShinRa, always ShinRa."

"Jessie used to work for ShinRa." Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the fact that I used to be one of the many engineers that worked for Scarlet in Weapons Development? That's why I'm good at what I do.

"She's not SOLDIER!"

"Neither is he, anymore."

"I'm sorry," I interjected. I was already fighting a headache from staring at my computer screen for the last seven hours and Barret's bellowing was not helping. "What is the plan here? What did you want to do with him?"

"I want to help him."

"And then what?"

"He could help us." At that I lifted my eyebrow and my gaze shifted away from her face down to the large sword in his grasp. He hadn't said anything yet and I'm starting to think he can't speak. "What's wrong with him?"

"I…I'm not sure. I found him at the train station. He was lucid one minute. He recognized me. But one our way back he just seemed to collapse. I think he's sick. "

"Well I don't wanna catch whatever this jackass has, and don't want Marlene catching nothing either."

All I could do for the moment was brush a hand through my hair thoughtfully. A moment later I stepped forward and rested the back of my hand against the blonde's forehead and immediately felt the frown form on my lips. "He's burning up." I took a slow breath before shaking my head. "He can take my bed for tonight. I'm not using it." Tifa immediately looked thankful and reached out with one of her hands to squeeze mine.

"Shit. Fine. One damn night. But make sure he don't snoop or nothing and keep talk about what we're doing here out of it. Don't trust him."

"Alright." Tifa answered and she looked to struggle for a moment before she glanced back to me.

I realized then that she was asking for assistance and I felt myself biting my lip with half a mind to ignore the look to go back to work. I rid such thoughts with a shake of my head before I stepped to the blonde's other side and grabbed his other arm. "…We should take the sword away from him."

"He won't seem to let go of it. I tried."

True to her word, I can't find a way to really persuade him to let go of the sword either so I was left to heft his arm around my shoulders sword and all. My heart pounded in my chest at just the sight of the blade and the ex-SOLDIER groaned once we started moving him away from the entrance. His arm felt pretty solid – if not…damp. He was wet and I didn't want to guess whether it was from being caught in the rain over twenty-four hours ago or what he dragged himself through in the slums. Based on the smell I was inclined to say the latter – but I wasn't going to think about it since it was his wet arm rested on my shoulders and slowly soaking through my clothes.

Tifa gave her words of encouragement to Cloud as we half drag him until we got him to my bed. We had to all but drop him onto it because he was heavy and placing him down delicately just wasn't going to happen. Tifa had the decency to pull his boots off and before tucking his legs onto the bed. I'd say I was thankful for that but…his clothes were filthy and I felt my nose wrinkle at the thought as I made a mental note to get new sheets and possible trade mattresses with Biggs before I slept there again.

"Could…you get me water and a washcloth? I don't want to leave his side."

"Okay." Hmm, that made me wonder if there was more to it than just a childhood friend, but it wasn't the time or place to really ask her. Once I procured said water and washcloth I stood back as Tifa took the time to wipe at the blonde's face clean. She stripped off his shoulder armor and dropped it on the floor beside the bed. He seemed to have passed out at this time and the death grip he had on the sword loosened enough for her to take it away and lean it against the wall. When she started to tug at his clothes I turned my gaze and felt a rush of embarrassment. "Did you need anything else?"

"Could you grab the first aid kit? With all this blood I don't really know what to expect."

I can't blame her. Between all the caked mud and blood it was impossible to tell where he might be injured. By the time I returned with the first aid kit, she had his chest bare and was already wiping him clean. I hovered over her shoulder for a moment and felt my gaze zero in on an old scare on the left side of his chest. It looked like he'd been stabbed at some point – very close to his heart for that matter. He must have been lucky not to have died from it. The moment that observation was over I felt my gaze begin to wander across the rest of him – felt the familiar burn of a blush and immediately turned around.

"Here." I said quickly as I placed the first aid kit next to the brunette. Thank Gaia she hadn't noticed my face because I would hate for her to think I was standing there ogling her half dead friend. Since it didn't look like she needed anything, I quickly left to gather myself as well as bury myself back into work.

And that's how I met Cloud. Little did I know at the time that he would be the key to finally giving AVALANCHE the push it needed to take action. I also didn't realize how absolutely infatuated I would become with him because quite frankly, I try to avoid those feelings. I become such a ditzy mess.

Ugh… So ended Day One.


	2. The Awakening

A/N: I should mention that this is an AU where it won't be following the events of the game. I'm specifically rewriting it to keep with the idea of a story of AVALANCE fighting off ShinRa Inc. So some things will change.

 _Chapter One: The Awakening_

' _It's now been released by ShinRa Inc. that the loss of more than a thousand soldiers outside of Midgar's borders last week was an attack from an unknown source that the military managed to ward off before they could reach our city. There is much speculation as to who is behind the attack – could the nation of Wutai be starting a new war? There were no reports of any bodies on the battlefield aside from that of the ShinRa military, leading the speculation that whoever had attacked sustained no losses in the carnage. More updates are to follow._ '

"Pfft, fishy as shit. They're hiding sumthin'" The leader of the group was agitated whenever there was a report of any incident regarding ShinRa. He was suspicious of any and all activities they were involved in and this one was no different. The small ragtag group of resistance fighters was hovered in front of the projection screen as they listened to the news coverage.

"Another group out there fighting ShinRa… scary." Wedge wasn't someone who wanted to come across that group anytime soon; especially if it was a group that managed to wipeout a small army from the military.

"Man…reminds me of something out of the stories they used to tell us about SOLDIERs, like Sephiroth. Wiping out a whole army of Wutai soldiers without getting so much as a scratch." Biggs tipped back the chair he was seated in onto the back two legs, his head was leaned over the back of the chair as his gaze remained fixed onto the ceiling above.

"I always felt those stories were a bit exaggerated." Jessie stated; although she was only half paying attention as she continued to pluck keys on the keyboard in front of her. She hummed lightly as her eyes scanned through several points of data. _'It we have an explosive concentrated here then… no no. The reactor might destroy the surrounding sectors. Stupid, stupid. Okay how about…'_

"Hey, I know." Biggs exclaimed suddenly as he settled the chair back onto its legs. His gaze turned back to the bed their resident comatose patient was residing in Jessie's bed. The blonde had yet to wake up in the past week: a fact that worried Tifa greatly. They couldn't afford a doctor to come look at him and there was very little they could do other than keep him comfortable. He had since been stripped from the grimy clothing he had been found it and cleaned up – a task that had been set upon Biggs and Wedge when they were introduced to their comatose resident.

"Didn't Tifa find him about a week ago? Jessie said he must have been outside the city with the way he looked like he came outta the rain. He's supposedly an Ex-SOLDIER right? You don't think…maybe?"

Everyone turned their gaze toward the unconscious man and a silence ensued upon the room. A moment later Barret scuffed, "Don't be a jackass. No way that scrawny piece of shit took out the entire army on his own. Jus' not possible." He moved to the bed the blonde was lying in and glared down at him. "Sides, bastard prolly still part of ShinRa. Can't trust-eaayh!" A firm hand latched onto his large wrist and caused the large man to practically leap a clean two yards away from the side of the bed. Everyone else rose from his or her seats but stood back.

The swordsman's eyes were opened with his arm still extended where he had gripped Barret by the wrist. No one said anything but Barret had his gunarm trained on the blonde as though waiting for a reason to open fire. Everyone had heard the stories of the strength of SOLDIER and while Barret might talk a big game; he, like everyone else in the room, avoided SOLDIER for a reason. His awareness of the danger of SOLDIER members was clearly evident by the sweat that suddenly showed up on his brow.

"Wedge…" Jessie broken the stillness in the room – her voice barely above a whisper as though she were afraid of triggering something in that moment, "Go grab Tifa from upstairs." The portly man didn't need to be told twice and he was already hurrying upstairs through their elevator.

The blonde's arm slowly dropped back on the bed and his head turned back up to the ceiling. He seemed lost in thought once more and his gaze shifted and moved back to the large sword propped against the wall. Even from across the room Jessie thought she saw something shift in his expression – a subtle twist of anguish but she couldn't dwell on it as the elevator began to lower once more. Tifa didn't even wait for it to reach the bottom as she hopped off of it halfway down it's decent armed with a bottle of water.

With the inclusion of the bartender in the room, the tension in the atmosphere seemed to dissipate the moment she stepped to the bed without hesitation nor concern. Jessie watched Barret lower his weapon, grumble to himself, and move toward the elevator with a claim of needing a drink. Biggs followed quickly behind.

"I was so worried you weren't going to wake up." Jessie heard Tifa say to the blonde. He mumbled something that Jessie couldn't make out before he appeared to start shaking lightly. Her brows drew together thoughtfully as she considered the idea that he might be crying for some reason. She couldn't tell with Tifa's form blocking her view to his face. A moment longer she decided to abandon work in favor of heading upstairs to join the others.

Biggs was the only one talking by the time she reached up there. He was going on about how awesome it would be to convince a former member of SOLDIER to be part of their group and it only seemed to agitate Barret the more he listened to it. He kept countering Biggs' idea with the fact that the blonde below was part of the enemy's group. It was a tiring debate – one that ended with Biggs nearly getting his head knocked off by the agitated leader. Jessie remained silent through the whole thing and kept her opinions to herself while Wedge did much the same. She didn't really have an opinion on the matter while Wedge, she suspected, wanted to avoid confrontation with either man by siding with one or the other.

The argument ceased to continue the moment they heard the elevator lower – a sign that it was being called from below. Jessie could feel the tension in room build up and Barret begin to form an itchy trigger finger when he expected the SOLDIER to arrive from below. Fortunately it was Tifa who appeared – looking no worse for wear. She looked slightly exhausted and torn over something. She moved toward the bar and poured herself a drink – a sign that she was stressed. She mixed a mean drink but Jessie had never seen the brunette actually has anything to drink from the bar.

"Well?!" Barret questioned after the bartender had a drink, "He say sumthin'?!" He all but demanded answers and in a way, he really was entitled to them. Jessie was surprised Barret hadn't just thrown the unconscious man out the door the second day much less allow him to stay sick in their hideout for the passed week. Jessie hadn't gotten her bed back and she had resorted to roughing it on the floor with a sleeping bag. She didn't really mind.

"Apparently ShinRa has been tracking him down for the last six months. They finally caught up with him outside of Midgar. He was dealing with Mako Poisoning for awhile."

"That's very serious." Jessie interjected, "I'm surprised he was able to move around at all. Much less recover from it without treatment."

"Wait… so outside the city. Holy crap, it _was_ him!" Biggs practically jumped out of his seat at the news and looked a little more than pleased with having been the one to put the two together.

Tifa, however, shook her head lightly. "No, he didn't fight. He was still out of it. He wasn't traveling alone. He was with a friend. He was a First Class SOLDIER who apparently was the real target. The SOLDIER died protecting him out there. The sword was the SOLDIERs'."

"An' who was that? Y'don't make First Class without it being known. It's hard."

"He didn't say. Couldn't seem to bring himself to say his name. I think this is the first time he's been clear of enough of the MAKO poisoning to really grieve." She paused for a moment to take another drink, "But…I've seen that sword before."

"It's not a standard issue sword?" Even Wedge was interested in the story and had moved himself closer to the counter.

Tifa shook her head, "No. From my understanding the First Class SOLDIERs all end up using their own preferred weapon. And that weapon I saw five years ago back in Nibelheim."

Unlike the rest of the team, Barret seemed to understand what Tifa was actually talking about. Jessie knew the two had spoken about their own personal losses at one time but the brunette had never shared with the rest of them. As rough around the edges Barret seemed at times, he was protective of all of them, and a big softie. A fact that he tried to bury beneath the tough act but Tifa managed to see pass it all quicker than the rest of them had. The two had their towns destroyed by ShinRa and it was a common ground that made some sort of kinship between the two. "S'that SOLDIER was there at the time."

"He was." The glass gave a clink as Tifa lowered it onto the bar counter. Her head lifted up to look at the ceiling as she looked like she was trying to recall a memory. Her eyes closed at the time, "I had hoped Cloud would be the one to show up in town with Sephiroth. Instead it was a man named Zack. He seemed…kind."

"So then, what is Cloud? Is he a former SOLDIER as well?" Jessie got the conversation back on the original topic.

"From what I could gather, he never made it to SOLDIER."

"What? Lame. Hey, wait. But what about his eyes? He's got that freaky glow to them." Biggs pointed out.

"I don't know."

"Maybe it has to do with the MAKO poisoning…but that's just a wild guess on my part." Jessie offered. She really had no idea if it had anything to do with it or not. She just knew that those who were part of SOLDIER were infused with MAKO in someway to make they even more potent in battle with the use of materia.

Jessie felt like there was something else that was bothering Tifa. More than what she had said thus far. "Something else is bothering you?" She questioned and Tifa looked slightly embarrassed for a moment as though the she didn't expect anyone to pick up on it.

"It's nothing."

"It's something."

Tifa glanced down at the empty glass in her hands and fidgeted with it for a moment. "It's personal."

"Awright. 'nough of this shit. What I wanna know is what's his plan?"

"I don't know. He fell back asleep. I don't think he's fully recovered yet."

"You think he'd be interested in joining us?" Wedge questioned as he turned around in the stool. His tapped his fingers on the counter thoughtfully. Barret looked like he was going to blow up again and Jessie felt like she wanted to shrink back downstairs to her workspace, "Think about it, will ya? Tifa mentioned he's a childhood friend. That means he lost his hometown to ShinRa the same as she. Not only that but the company was after him. He's got as much reason to fight against ShinRa as any of us."

Barret's fury seemed to subside with that argument. His arms crossed over his chest and he tapped his foot thoughtfully. Apparently he hadn't considered that fact before and, if Jessie were perfectly honest with herself, she hadn't considered it either. "Pfft, fine. We'll see. But he ain't useful as an invalid so no sense hoping for it if he don't get better."

"Hmm, so you _were_ hoping to get him to join?" Biggs questioned as a grin spread quickly across his lips.

"That ain't what I was sayin'!" Barret all but roared back at him. "Pft, aw shit. I gotta go pick up Marlene from her lesson. Don't burn the place down while I'm gone fools." He stated before he quickly left.

Jessie could help but laugh lightly once he was gone, "He still has twenty minutes before he needs to actually leave." She pointed out and the rest of the group shared a much needed laugh. Barret tended to use Marlene as an excuse when he needed to get out of an embarrassing situation. She stood up from her seat afterwards, "I'm going back to work. I think I might have an idea on how to bypass the train security system."

"Oh!" Tifa pulled out a bottle of water, "Can you leave this by Cloud? He already finished off the one I brought down." Jessie hesitated for a moment before she walked over and grabbed the bottle from the bartender. "Thanks," Tifa responded, "I need to work on something for him to eat. It's been a week so he's really going to need to start getting nutrients."

"I'll help!" Wedge was always an enthusiastic volunteer to help Tifa in the kitchen. Jessie suspected it was because not only did she allow him to sample what she was cooking, but also because he was harboring a hopeless crush on their resident bartender. It was just a theory; however, because when it came to crushes and relationships Jessie was the least qualified person to comment on them.

"Can I get a drink before you get distracted with cooking? Something hard." Jessie shook her heard as she stepped onto their secret elevator and lowered down to their headquarters.

Once she was below she headed to the side of the bed to place the water bottle on the floor. True to Tifa's word, the blonde was fast asleep once again. Jessie 'hmm-ed' lightly. "…Cloud." She tested the name quietly on her lips before she shrugged her shoulders and turned her gaze away. It landed on the large sword he had carried in with him a week ago. Mud was crusted over the blade and it was marred with scratches. The blade looked like it had lost the sharpness on the edge. It was either going to need to have maintenance done to it, or he would need a new weapon if he planned on joining their fight.


	3. Mid-Sector Scuffle

_Chapter Two: Mid-Sector Scuffle_

It had only taken one additional day after Cloud woke up before he was up and about. Everyone in the group kept their distance from him save for Tifa, who knew him, and Jessie (but only at the request of the martial artist needing an additional hand). Barret kept to his simmering tempered self in a corner somewhere and simply shot glares at Biggs whenever the younger male looked like he might try to speak to the blonde swordsman. As for Cloud himself, he remained as standoffish as the rest of the group and made no effort on his end to get to know the people who allowed him to stay. The only time he spoke to any of them was when he asked Wedge where his sword was put and the plump male stammered a response to indicate he had no idea.

It had been another tense week and no one really knew what to make of their guest or if they were going to invite him into AVALANCHE. The engineer wasn't even sure if the man was even aware that he was being housed by a terrorist organization whose purpose was to stand against his former employers. None of them could really speak to him about it either – not without overstepping their leader's authority. For now they tried to go about their daily lives as normal as possible and that meant a whole lot of time tinkering around in her makeshift workshop for Jessie.

She had to venture to Wall Market earlier that morning to the store that could closely count as an electronics shop. It had broken hardware or hardware that was obsolete compared to the current advancements. Still, it was computer components that she could work with and it was the only place she could go that she could afford to purchase anything on her budget. She constantly worked on her computer and the software that she used, while not state of the art, did require a lot of processing power that wasn't available in a computer that was over ten years old. If she eventually wanted to have the power and equipment that she needed to hack into ShinRa's security without raising too many red flags then it would have to be something she built on her own. Fortunately, computer engineering was a field in which she was actually confident. Some would say she was too confident.

"You know, we should just rob a bank that President ShinRa keeps his money. Then we can use the Gil to buy you stuff that you don't have to strip down to work with." Biggs commented. He had joined her to the Wall Market because the equipment she tended to get was too heavy for one person. Both of them were carrying a large box that each were filled with various computer and mechanical parts. Some of the things she purchased was simply to gain a small component from the larger item.

"Yes, because I'm sure that his money is tagged and separated from every else's."

"Yeesh, no need to bite my head off. I was just joking. You certainly woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"I haven't had a bed to wake up on any side for the last couple of weeks."

"Oh well, you know you could just tell him it's yours." She didn't respond and after a moment Biggs turned his gaze at her and flashed her a large smile, "Or cozy on up next to him." She responded to his suggestion with a quick kick to his ankle. "Ow, watch it! Gonna make me drop this y'know." He stopped to place the box down so he could rub his ankle, "Geeze…and you're wearing steel toe too."

"Don't be such a baby." Jessie huffed and used the momentary break to lift one arm up enough to wipe the sweat off her forehead. Making the trek to Sector Six Wall Market was fine. Making the trek back while lugging around equipment was a whole other story; and while she did appreciate the short break, it didn't help her arms feel any less like jelly. "Come on, lets go."

"Can't, you killed me." To emphasize his point by laying flush on the dirty ground.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Then I guess I'll just leave you behind." She stated offhandedly with a shrug before she proceeded to move forward. She didn't want to linger about in their current location too long. It was one of those places that was crawling with a number of ruffians that were just laying in wait for unsuspecting victims.

"Aw, come on, wait up, Jess." He picked up his box and hurried to catch up. "I just wanted a little break, I've got the heavier box." He was definitely like an obnoxious brother that she never wanted in her life. She shook her head but had trouble holding back the smile that threatened to grace her features. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she found his antics amusing. Most times they weren't.

"You think Barret is going to talk to him soon?"

"I don't know. But he better soon and if doesn't plan on inviting him to our cause he's still going to need to talk to him… Tifa I suppose."

"Hmm, you think there's something there?"

"Where?"

"Between Tifa and Cloud."

Jessie lifted her head up thoughtfully. She wasn't sure exactly. She was the last person that he should be asking because she was so bad in the relationship department. The last time she dated someone it had only lasted for about a month and that had been the longest running relationship she's had. She was always just…too busy for the time commitment for a relationship. If she were to guess based solely on Tifa's mannerism toward the blonde then she supposed there was…or had been. "I think, at the very least Tifa wants there to be."

"Really? Hmm…" Biggs didn't sound too enthused about that statement and Jessie shifted her gaze toward him questioningly. He quickly shook his head quickly, "It's nothing really. Wedge kind of has a thing for her. I feel bad. Poor guy never gets a break you know?"

"Really? Because I thought you did."

"Pfft, what guy _wouldn't_ have a thing for Tifa?" She scowled lightly at that statement and Biggs, to his credit, seemed to catch onto his slip, "Not that any guy _wouldn't_ have a thing for _you_. Tifa is just more…uh…distracting with you know… serving drinks, always up front and center of the attention while you're stowed away below."

"Gosh Biggs, you really know how to make a girl feel good about herself. No wonder you can't seem to get a date ever either."

"Jess…"

"You know, unlike some people, I'm dedicated to my work and the mission we're supposed to be on."

"Jess…"

"I don't even care. I don't have time to worry about silly things like that."

"Jess!"

"What?!" She stopped and whirled around to face him. Anything further she had to say she bit back with a snap of her mouth as she found herself starring at Biggs as well as several slum thugs at either of his sides – a single knife pressed against his throat. "…oh."

They started to laugh lightly to themselves as one started to dig into Biggs' pockets in search of his wallet. The joke was on them; however, because he was probably the most broke member of AVALANCHE so when they did get their slippery hands onto his wallet they only found that it was empty. There was a growl of irritation before the one holding the knife to his neck pulled it away from his throat and used the bottom of the hilt to smack in the back of his head. Jessie winced slightly as the box filled with computer parts clattered onto the ground. Biggs hissed from his spot on the ground with his hands pressed to the back of his head.

Jessie took a few hesitant steps back as they a couple of them started to approach her. The first thug reached her; however, when his hand lifted up toward her a brick seemed to fly out of nowhere and smack into the side of his face. The thug went down and the second one closest to her jumped back in surprise from the sudden attack. That's when Cloud seemed to jump into the fray from behind where the other one's at Biggs' spot stood. In his arms he was armed with a three foot long steel rod that was bowed slightly along the length. He took a swing at the first thug and struck him in the back. The rest immediately went on alert and Jessie dropped the box she was carrying. She leapt into action the moment the attention was drawn away from her and used the same steel toe boots she had used to kick Biggs' ankles to kick the nearest thug in the back.

Biggs took the opportunity to charge forward at the off balanced thug and drive a knee into their chest. "Jessie, behind you!" She whirled around to kick the thug that recovered from having a brick thrown at their face and mentally thanked Tifa for the training. The two members of AVALANCHE turned around, ready to help Cloud finished the rest; however, the remaining thugs were already sprawled out on the ground unconscious. The blonde looked at his iron rod for a moment before he tossed it off to the side with a shrug. Biggs gave a low appreciative whistle, "Woo, thanks man."

"It was nothing." He stated as he stepped over a groaning thug.

Biggs picked up his dropped box, "Pfft, you say that but you totally kicked ass."

"Thanks…" Jessie mumbled with light embarrassment as she stepped out of his path.

When Cloud reached her discarded box he knelt down and picked it up. He glanced over his shoulder at the two of them, "Headed back to the bar..?"

"Yep!" Biggs stated and the blonde nodded once before he started moving forward once more.

"Hmm," Biggs hung back with Jessie for a moment before he glanced at her, "…think he'd carry mine too? Or is it a girl thing?" He joked lightly.

"Ugh…" She yanked the box out of his arms and carried it.

"What? I was only asking?" She could hear him state from behind her.

She gave him one last look, only to see him rooting through the thugs pockets for any sort of valuables. She shook her head and quickened her pace to catch up with Cloud and leave Biggs behind. Once she caught up with the blonde, she fell in step with him. She felt less nervous about walking around their current location with him around. He may not have been SOLDIER but he still had been in the military from her understanding. That meant he had the most combat experience then the rest of them, maybe even more then their leader. She kept finding herself shooting quick glances to the blonde walking beside her and the more the silence came on, the more anxious she began to feel. She hadn't really spoken to him directly before and wasn't sure what to expect if she attempted a conversation with him. Most of what she knew about him came from Tifa's lips.

"So, what were you doing all the way out here?"

"…Training."

"Oh. What kind?"

The question seemed to confuse him at first as a look a bewilderment passed over his features for a moment before he gestured back in the direction they had come from, "That kind."

"Did Barret speak to you yet?"

"Which one is Barret?"

"Uh…the big one."

"…"

"The one with the gun-arm."

"Oh. No. Why?"

Jessie turned her gaze back to the ground, "No reason. Um… I'm-"

"Jessie. I know. Tifa told me." At the look of confusion on her features, he shrugged lightly, "She gave me names of everyone but not descriptions. She mentioned Barret has a daughter named Marlene."

Jessie nodded her head, "Adopted daughter. She's a gem."

"Was that Biggs or Wedge back there?"

"Biggs…" Jessie made a face, "He's not a gem." Cloud grunted lightly in amusement which only caused Jessie to smile in return. Maybe she didn't really have much reason to be worry about Cloud after all. He seemed…okay. Normal. "Really though, thank you, for back there." She stated quickly as she felt another wave of embarrassment, "Normally it's not a problem and normally we're better at keeping aware of our surroundings. We probably would have been fine in the end because it's not the first time we've been jumped by the people living in the slums. It's kind of normal down there. But we probably would have a few more bruises." Her eyes widened lightly as she realized what she was saying could be easily misunderstood. It just made her feel even more anxious and the words started pouring out quicker from her mouth, "Oh wait, this makes me sound ungrateful. I'm not. You definitely helped back there and I just want you to know that."

Cloud paused in his stride and gave her a perplexed look, "Do you always ramble this much?"

Jessie's lips parted slightly with a light sound as she failed to come up with a retort. Her face flared up in embarrassment and she quickly lowered her gaze to the ground once more, "iNo."/i She responded and made ever effort not to say more to defend herself just to prove her point. "…maybe a little." She mumbled off to the side.

Barret was in the bar when they had gotten back and was in the middle of some sort of discussion with Tifa. When he heard them enter, the leader of the group looked in their direction and paused for a moment before speaking, "You two went together?" He seemed surprised and a bit suspicious of the idea.

Jessie quickly shook her head, "Ran into some trouble on the way back. He helped." She explained before she moved over to the lift. Cloud shrugged his shoulders at Barret but didn't offer any explanation further than what had already been given. He stepped onto the lift as well.

"See?" Tifa stated as the pair went to the lower level. She tapped her fingers on the bar counter, "He can help."

"Still don't trust'im but I guess I can try." Barret rubbed his chin thoughtfully as a few new ideas came to mind about what they could do.

In the lower level below, Jessie was dropped her box onto her worktable with a sigh of relief. "Oh Gaia was that stuff getting heavy." She mumbled to herself. Her gaze drifted back to the blonde who was standing there with his haul. "You can just place it on the table." She stated as she gestured to the work surface. The blonde stepped a little too close for her own comfort and caused the engineer to take a quick step back for space as he placed the box down on the table.

"What's all this junk for?"

"I uh… it's parts. I tinker. You see junk, I see resources. There's not much else to get when you're stuck in the slums."

"Hmm…"

"Um… I have you sword." She felt like wringing her hands together in her nervousness as he turned his gaze toward her. "It was in pretty bad shape. I've been restoring it on my free time, it's almost done…"

"Why'd you bother doing that?"

"Yo! Cloud!" The pair turned their attention toward the lift, "Come up top. Got sumthin to discuss wit ya."


	4. Into the Belly

_Chapter Four: Into the Belly_

Things were happening fast – almost too fast but the moment Barret decided to hire the Ex-SOLDIER for a mission, there was no slowing things down. He continued to push things forward despite everyone else's hesitation. Jessie wasn't fully convinced that her bomb was ready; however, she had to admit that Barret had a point. There had been a lot of risks taken by people to get them the access codes to get into the reactor and there was no guarantee that the codes would be effective later. So they went full throttle into the mission.

Jessie and Biggs had the codes memorized. Originally it had just been Jessie but she felt it was better to have them both remember them in the event that something happened to her the mission could still go on. She had a good idea of the layout of the reactor as well which was what had her leading Barret and Cloud through the reactor. Things were moving fast but they seemed to be going their way and Cloud was proving to be a strong asset as he decimated the sentry bots that would appear. There was no SOLDIER dispatched in the Reactor which allowed even Jessie and Barret to hold their own against the security. It was another reason Barret pushed for the mission to proceed because they heard a bulk of the SOLDIER force was currently spread across the city.

"Wedge and I will keep watch here." Biggs stated before he indicated toward the elevator for the rest of the group.

"If we ain't back in forty minutes, get out." Barret ordered before Jessie called the elevator up. She slipped in first before Cloud and Barret followed close behind. Their leader seemed nervous – Jessie could tell because Barret got especially short tempered whenever he got nervous about anything. Unfortunately it also meant the temper was directed at someone and that someone ended up being the person he trusted the least. The Ex-SOLDIER.

Jessie for the most part ignored the rant that Barre ended up going into about the planet dying and Cloud's lack of care about the matter. She felt it was safer to remain a quiet bystander involving the conversation as she kept a constant eye on her tablet that was hacked into the security network. If SOLDIER arrives at the reactor she would at least know the moment they appeared so they had some time to figure out what to do.

"This way." Jessie informed them both as the elevator came to a stop. She proceeded to lead them down to the lower level where the elevator didn't go. They were headed for the core of the reactor to set the charge. She brought them most of the way before she pointed down to the lower level. "It's down there. I'll watch your backs here." The engineer pulled the sack off of her shoulder and handed it to Barret, "Careful with this. And remember to set the timer long enough for us to clear the blast."

"Tsk. I know that. What yo take me for? A fo'l?" Barret slung the bag over his shoulder and headed down toward the landing where the core of the reactor resided.

The ex-SOLDIER stared at her for a moment in confusion, "You're not coming?"

Jessie shook her head, "I'll stay here to watch your backs in case more security shows up. You'll be distracted setting the charge."

He shrugged before he headed down with Barret. From her vantage point she could still see them even at the core so if they did have trouble setting the bomb she could hurry down. She felt like a big ball of stress and she continued to flip through different camera feeds on her tablet to make sure there wasn't any SOLDIER appearing. So far they were good.

Until the alarms went off suddenly and caused her to jump in surprise. _'What happened?'_ She thought before a large mass dropped down from above and landed on the catwalk with Barret and Cloud. It was an advanced security bot. Jessie recognized it as an CX2T-SCORPION model. Highly dangerous and massive. Barret and Cloud were cut off from running away while it blocked their path and forced to fight. _'Shoot. We were hoping to avoid something like this'_ With the alarms going off the security was going to be heightened and the next step would be SOLDIER appearing if they didn't get out of there soon enough. Barret was keeping his distance to fire off shots at the heavily armored Scorpion while Cloud hacked away at it. He was avoiding the deadly tail and the gunfire while effectively keeping the heat off of Barret.

Jessie felt a lump in her throat as she proceeded to head down below to lend a hand. The security robot didn't seem like it was aware of her yet even as she positioned herself behind it and tucked her tablet away. Its tail rose up threateningly. "Dunno what it's doing, but it ain't attacking. Now's our chance to strike it down." Barret stated.

"Don't!" Jessie started. She had studied what she could of the security protocols in the reactor and that included the Scorpion class robot. Unfortunately, before she could tell them about the laser in the robot's tail, Barret open fired at the robot. The tail lit up with it's charge as final warning before it released a laser that blasted across the floor. She could hear Barret cursing up a storm as a result but he seemed to avoid it. Cloud had taken note of the warning from the charge and distanced himself – it had been close for both of them.

"Shit! It's charging again. What do s'pose to do Jessie!?" Barret shouted.

Jessie thought quick on her feet and ran over to the robot. "Just keep it distracted!" She shouted as she proceeded to climb up one of its legs.

"The hell ya doin'?" Barret questioned before he had to quickly move again as the Scorpion released another tail laser. The catwalk they stood on released an unsettling buckle.

"Don't think this catwalk can withstand another laser blast like that." Cloud stated.

"Ya think!? What we gonna do big time SOLDIER?"

Jessie cracked open a small section of plate on its back to access the wiring.

"Yo Jess, better do sumthin' fast!" Barret warned as the tail began to charge once more.

She grabbed a handful of wired and sliced them with a knife. The charge and the tail itself seemed to die. The tail clunked to the ground. "I disabled the tail!" She shouted and the Scorpion spun on its torso and caused her to be flung off of her perch. She landed partially on her foot with a hiss as pain shot out from her ankle. She clutched it on instinct and the next she realized that the Scorpion had her targeted. It's tail may not be functional but it still had the guns installed on its arms.

Before they could open fire on her, the Ex-SOLDIER had taken the opportunity to land where she had been previously on the Scorpion's back and plunge the giant sword he was carrying right through the Scorpion's back. Jessie figured he must have managed to penetrate something vital or important because the robot started to cease up before it crumbled onto the ground completely. The blonde walked back toward Jessie and offered her a hand, "Uh…thanks."

"It was nothing. You're the one who gave us a vital spot." He stated.

She felt slightly embarrassed from both having to be saved and for the compliment. She was just trying to help. "We need to set the bomb and get out of here before SOLDIER shows up."

"Uh… yo, bout that. We already did." Barret scratched his head.

Jessie felt that bit of panic begin to swell up back inside of her, "How long did you set it for?"

"Thirty minutes." Cloud answered.

And it swelled up more, "We can't stop it. How much time is left?"

"Uh…shit. Twelve. We gotta book it back on the double." Barret stated before he ran toward the ladder. Cloud nodded his agreement before he followed suit.

Jessie followed but lagged behind having hurt her ankle from her tumble. She gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain as she ran until she reached the ladder. By the time she had climbed to the top, Barret and Cloud were already out of the room and likely headed up the stairs toward the elevator. She took two steps before she fell down, hissing and grabbing her ankle. _'This is just great. There's got to be only nine minutes left and I can't even run. So this is how it's going to end? Done away with my own bomb?'_ She shook her head with the thought and tried to stand up and put weight on it. She felt tears well in her eyes at the pain and she bit her lip as she tried to ignore the pain.

"You alright?" Jessie nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Cloud's voice. When had he gotten there? She shook her head lightly, "I hurt my ankle. I don't think I'm going to make it. You need to hurry, there's not much time left."

The Ex-SOLDIER studied her for a moment as he gave her a once over and seemed to contemplate. "You need to hurry. You're going to be cutting it close anyways. Tifa would never forgive us if something happened to- wha?" She felt herself picked up off the floor and into his arms before he started to sprint back in the direction he came from. "What, what are you doing?"

"Escaping." He responded dryly.

Jessie felt herself flushed to the bone in embarrassment as she felt herself carted up the stairs. Barret was at the elevator, keeping it open and ready to go, "Yo, the hell ya been?"

"She hurt her ankle." Ex-SOLDIER shrugged while the leader glared at his underling.

"Why the hell you didn't same sumthin?" He questioned her before he punched the up button on the elevator.

It wasn't the world's slowest elevator but it sure as heck felt like it when you had a literal ticking time bomb ready to go off any second. She felt like she could tell Cloud to put her down and she would be able to make it the rest of the way but on the other hand she didn't want to risk being wrong because he would likely just come back for her if she lagged behind. She didn't want to make things worse for him then they already were. Although, if she was going to die, she supposed having a pair of strong arms holding her against an equally strong chest wasn't the worst way to go. She just felt somewhat like a child being carried around the way she was. She didn't know what to do with her hands either. Was she supposed to wrap them around his neck for added support or would that dampen his abilities more? She simply had them crossed over her chest as though she were a pouting child and for the first time in a long time she didn't have anything to say or ramble about. She was too embarrassed.

Barret struck the door. She wasn't sure if he was angry in general, thought that hitting the elevator would make it move faster, or if was getting scared out of his mind like Jessie was starting to feel. "Got two minutes." He grumbled.

Jessie chanced a look at Cloud's face, something she tried to avoid while he was carrying her. He was the epitome of cool and collected. His eyes remained trained on the door and if there was any semblance of worry in his mind, she couldn't find a trace of it.

 _DING!_

The elevator jolted to a stop and the doors spread open. The leader of AVALANCHE took off, waving them to follow and Cloud took off with Jessie carried. In the back of the hacker's mind she was doing a mental countdown of the bomb and was trying to refrain from having a panic attack. They were out of the reactor and they had less than a minute to get off the catwalks leading to the entrance and get to the other side of the outer walls protecting the reactor. Things felt like they moved in slow motion as she caught a glimpse of her handiwork erupting into a blaze of fiery doom just as they got into the tunnel. The entire place shook from the blast, she felt herself propelled out of Cloud's arms and onto the ground in a tumble as the ceiling caved down and the lighting died off.

Several heavy breaths later, Jessie found her eyes opening up to a broken dark tunnel with the emergency lighting flicked on. "Alright y'all! Who ain't dead?" She heard Barret call in the tunnel. A quick cry of 'Alive' sounded from Wedge followed by 'Think my ass cracked' by Biggs. Jessie grumbled out her being alive as she pushed herself up to her feet and braced her hand on the wall to keep the weight off her bad ankle. Cloud didn't say anything, he merely walked into view and crossed his arms over his chest to wait for the next instructions.

"Yo Jess!" The engineer twisted her gaze toward the sound of Barret's voice in the poorly lit tunnel. "Think y'can do sumthin' bout the entrance? It's block off."

"Coming." She said as she headed toward their blocked escape. She limped over until she reached her destination. She immediately went to work and used what little supplies she had left to cobble together a small explosive that would be big enough to clear their way but not big enough to kill them all. It took her a couple of minutes but she managed to finish it up. It was a detonation charge – Jessie had enough with timed explosives for one night. Biggs leant her a shoulder to lean on to help her move away from the explosive before she set it off. It did the trick and their way was clear.

"Alright. Gather 'round!" Barret shouted as they all finished getting out. "Mission was a success but don't getting' cocky. Next one is gonna be less screwups with a bigger explosion. Sumthin' that will really give those corporate jackasses something to worry 'bout. Get to the train. Don't travel in a group." With that everyone parted their separate ways.

With no immediate threat of losing her life, Jessie was able to take things slow and make it back to the train without looking the least bit suspicious. She wasn't the first to make it to the train but she wasn't the last one either. Wedge had made his way to a local food vendor to get a snack for the ride back so he arrived in the back of the train right after she did. Cloud didn't make it before the train started heading off. There was a sense of melancholy that filled the storage cabin with AVALANCHE was residing.

"Wonder if he was killed." Biggs was the firs to comment on his absence.

"No way!" Barret responded before he punched the side door behind him, "If y'all weren't such screwups then we wouldn't've needed 'im in the first place."

Jessie idly traced the grain on the wooden crate she leaned against. She didn't think he was dead either. After seeing what he could do against the security in the reactor, it was hard to believe anything could take the man out. Just thinking about how he had come back for her and carried her all the way out of the reactor made her feel warm to the face again. She shook her head from the memory and hummed sadly as she thought about what they were going to say to Tifa when they got back.

Then the door suddenly slid open and much to everyone's surprise, Cloud jumped into the cabin. She felt her heart leap to her throat – likely a similar feelings that were shared amongst the rest of AVALANCHE. Barret pretty much exploded right off the bat upon seeing the blonde make such an entrance. Once things settled down, they started to disperse from the storage cabin and into the rear passenger cabin one at the time until she found herself standing awkwardly with Cloud.

She started to move toward the passenger cart when her gaze shifted to the still open door. "Careful. I'll close this." She stated before she grabbed the side door and slit it shut. It made the cabin much quieter. Her hand lingered on the handle before she sighed and turned around. She still hadn't thanked him but she wasn't sure how she was supposed to thank someone after they saved your life. Words felt so…inadequate.

"Cloud…"She started as she gathered her nerve to at least thank him; however, the moment she looked to his face, she erupted into a fit of giggles. "I'm sorry." It took her a couple of moments to gather herself before she pulled out a spare bandana from one of her pockets. "You're face is black with soot. Here." She offered it toward his hand and realized then that he was holding a flower. His gaze shifted down to the delicate plant in his hand before he scratched the back of his head. Jessie took a hold of it and handed him the bandana instead.

She shifted her gaze to the flower she was holding for him and started to spin it in her fingers by the stem. She imagined he had gotten it for Tifa back at the hideout. "You know you had us really worried when you didn't make it. Biggs thought you might have gotten killed." Cloud grunted in amusement at the thought, "Yeah… I didn't think so either. Um, thanks…for saving me. I wouldn't have made it out alive if not for your help."

"Consider us even then."

"Even?" She glanced up in surprise from the flower.

"You helped with that Scorpion model."

"You probably would have handled it regardless." Jessie had no doubt of it. He was an ex-SOLDIER first class! They were the strongest and were practically worshipped by the people that weren't against ShinRa. Jessie could see why if Cloud was any indication. She'd never thought she would meet a hero before but there he did it, swooped in when she was doomed and saved her from an inevitable demise.

"You also helped Tifa nurse me back to health." He stated plainly.

"I didn't do much." She felt like she needed something mechanical to fiddle with but all she had was the flower in her hand.

"Even so." Cloud held out the bandana she had handed him before once he was done cleaning his face off. She accepted it and offered the flower back. He shrugged again, "Keep it."

"Me?"

"I have no use for it."

"You got me a flower?" She felt embarrassed again.

He shook his head, "It was mostly forced on me. I don't want it." He explained before he turned toward the door and headed into the passenger cabin.

Jessie glanced down at the flower in her hand before she folded it into the dirty bandanna. She tucked both items into her pocket for safe keeping.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** My apologies for the wait everyone. Tis the holiday season and I got busy. I hope those of you who have read/reviewed thus far aren't put off too much for the wait and I am eternally grateful for your patience. As you can see, we are getting into the missions/game where I plan to make alterations as we go. obviously this story will be step away from Canon. I have yet to decide whether or not I will have Sephiroth appear and continue through the actual game, or negate him and stick strictly to a story about the struggle/war between ShinRa and AVALANCHE. Anyone have any preferences to which direction I head with?


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